I didn’t expect my last day in Finland would be that fulfilling.

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In the morning, I was thinking of fulfilling some last wishes in Helsinki. One is to go to Sauna again, another is to go to the bar where I wasn’t allowed to get in a month ago because I didn’t have EU vaccination proof, and the other is to try a famous fish soup. However, none of these things went smoothly.

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This is a special episode of my journey in the US, and is also the only US story I’ve written for the podcast right after I got back.

Can you believe there is so much coincidence in the world? Oh no, what I learned is: sometimes, you need to make some coincidences yourself ;)

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Around 9:00, I was waiting for my flight at 10:20 to Helsinki. Suddenly a black woman with her daughter approached. She looked frustrated, which was a big contrast to her daughter’s innocent face.

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I was thinking of going to Toledo, a city near Madrid and was recommended by a Taiwanese girl I met in Krakow. But I hadn’t decided when. After the test was done, I took the bus to go back to the hostel. However, on half way, when the bus passed by Madrid Atocha station, I was suddenly thinking: “Since I was outside, how about going to Toledo right now!”

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Because of the late sleep yesterday, I woke up late. After freshening up, I went to a convenience store to buy some bread for breakfast. Argentine girl woke up at 12. She told me she was gonna retrieve her passport at a nearby hotel. But before that, she wanted to fill her stomach first. We then went to Burger king. While she was eating, we started to talk about relationships. She mentioned a guy who was obviously chasing her recently.

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While I was lingering in the park, I suddenly felt a bit bored. “Madrid seems not that surprising to me. I feel like I need some interaction with people.“ Then God seemed to hear my wish.  At night, I was back in the hostel, thinking I was gonna have a dull night. However, while I was looking for my stuff in the room, the girl who just moved-in and slept in front of me came to say hi.

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That was a long day. All I did was basically taking a train. After achieving the goal of eating breakfast in a shop, I then chilled out in the hostel until the departure time approached. At 14:50, I boarded the train, planning to have a make-up sleep during the 7.5 hrs journey. Some minutes later, the driver came to the cabin, asking who was gonna go to Madrid and blablabla.

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It was probably the most unfortunate day during my journey. I lost 300 euros because of a scam. 

That day, I only had one plan, which was going to the beach and seeing the sunset. Since my schedule was loose, I then started to plan my trip to Madrid. I checked the train ticket which was a bit expensive, so I was looking for other ways to go. I then found BlaBlaCar, which at the beginning, I thought was a blessing, however, it was toxic.

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My mood was extremely light that morning because I saw something joyful. When I walked out from Center Valencia Youth Hostel, I saw people having breakfast in the plaza while enjoying the company of soft sunshine and lovely orange trees. The scene alone was enough to make me feel delighted and at the same time to make up for the poor sleep last night, which was caused by 2 guys watching videos without using earphones in the room.

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The first day when I was hanging around the Barcelona Cathedral, I found a brand selling shoes called Mumka. I was attracted by its special illustrations on the sneakers and hesitated to buy a pair. I couldn’t make up my mind until the next day.

 “Love in college seems to be a wonderful experience in life.” But unlike shoes, it’s a thing people will never find again once lost. 

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Fine! I shouldn’t be bothered by such a small thing. “Today I’m gonna go on a Gaudi adventure! Nothing can stop me!” I then went out. 

I didn’t regret choosing the parade over the beach. But I definitely regret that I didn’t spend a longer time in such a surprising city. 

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A good hostel, a good start. And fortunately, the city is able to keep the start. Barcelona is such a charming city that it’s hard to resist its temptation. I was especially fascinated by that mysteriously ancient romance and the incredibly vivid atmosphere.

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To avoid what happened in Bratislava on Day 32, this time I decided to go scouting in advance, which was to check the stop where I was gonna take the shuttle to the airport the next day. That’s the main task. As to the rest of time, well, it was saved to complete other small tasks, and take a final look at Budapest.

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“I’m gonna leave! Don’t you wake up to say goodby to me?” Emma said. I first tried to make my morning mind clear, then sat straight on my bed and finally say bye-bye!” That’s the end of our trip. Emma then left for the airport, and I left for a north town called Esztergom in the north suburb.

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We almost did nothing on that day. After packing stuff, we walked all the way from Margarette island to west-end hostel, where I was gonna stay for 3 nights…About this….actually it bothered me right after I booked it.

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Emma and I were gonna change to another hostel on Margaret Island which is in Danube River because the original one we stayed was overbooked. The plan on New Year’s Eve was, well, let’s see.

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After downtown was kind of well-explored, we then decided to go to suburb. Szentendre or St. Andru is a small town in the suburb of Budapest which only takes a 40-minute metro from downtown. We went there not only because we wanted to explore different views but also because we wanted to visit the place where a music video from a famous Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai’s was shot.

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On the square, there’s a Millennium Monument featuring some important national leaders and 7 chieftains of the Magyars who conquered the Carpathian basin in 9th. It was built in 1896 to commemorate the thousandth anniversary of the Hungarian conquest and is also a Tomb of the unknown soldiers.

Szimpla Kert, a famous ruin bar in Budapest. it’s like a combination of industrial style and street culture, which creates a vibe making me so fascinated about.

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Fisherman’s Bastion, which serves as an observatory now. From there, you can overlook Hungarian Parliament Building on the other bank of Danube River. The parliament radiated a kind of treacherous beauty under sprinkling weather on that day.

Buda Castle, which is situated on hills and was first build in 1247 for resisting Mongolian’s invasion.

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